EU's deal with China to allow in tour groups

Twelve of the 15 EU member states signed an agreement to allow Chinese tour groups to visit Europe, even though tourist visas are used in the international people smuggling trade.

The agreement, which does not include Britain, was welcomed in both Brussels and Beijing as a sign of the two power blocs' growing closeness. The EU is also considering lifting its arms embargo against China imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Many of the 19 Chinese cockle pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay were believed to have been illegal immigrants. Some are thought to have arrived in Europe on tourist visas before being smuggled into Britain.

Group tours in particular have been used to fly would-be illegal immigrants to Eastern Europe, from where they follow a well-trodden path to Britain.

The authorities in Croatia are still trying to work out what happened to an authorised group of 34 Chinese tourists who arrived in the country in December and did not return to Zagreb airport for their flight home. Between one and three per cent of all Chinese tourists fail to return home.

The EU statement published in Beijing said 650,000 Chinese tourists already visit each year, a figure it said was bound to rise with the new agreement.

It will simplify visa procedures for group tours, and means the Chinese government will give approval for companies to advertise organised group tours. The agreement applies to all the Schengen group of EU countries that have abolished border controls, except for Denmark. Ireland and the United Kingdom are not members.

Chris Patten, the EU External Affairs Commissioner, said: "I look forward to seeing more Chinese tourists and I hope many will take up the new opportunity to travel.

"The next step is to deepen our co-operation on migration in all its forms," Mr Patten said. He revealed that China had agreed to take back tourists who overstayed their visas.

But the job of vetting potential tourists, including their financial means, will be handled by the China National Tourism Administration.

Britain is discussing with China drawing up a deal similar to that signed by the EU, which is due to come into force before the summer.